Wednesday, June 17, 2009

How often throughout our day are we aware of breathing? Of course we know were breathing, but how aware are we of doing so? You know the actual process........breathe in.......now exhale ......breathe in....... now let it out. Brings to mind a doctors visit, doesn't it? When you fear hyperventilating because the doctor is moving that stethescope just a bit too quickly for you to catch up! Or after we've been running or exerting ourselves we become aware of our breathing, but mostly because at that point it becomes difficult to catch our breathe. Another is at the end of life when your time left on this earth has become short and the number of breathes we take in a single minute are counted to determine when that time may come. But, normally on an average day we don't pay much attention to breathing, although it is the most important function vital to life. Without breathing our hearts fail to beat, and blood no longer flows through our veins.Jesus is so much like the very breathe we breath. He is vital to life, yet for so many we go throughout our days being unaware of just how vital our need is for Him, until life becomes difficult, then we come as if gasping for air.The days we are upon aren't making it difficult to find ourselves in times which can be like taking the very wind from our sails, so to speak. The pink slip at the end of the work day, late notices in the mail, children failing at school or even worse and into drugs and alcohol, ailing health. The list could go on and on, my point being, we don't have to look too far to find troubles in this life, Jesus told us in John 16:33 "These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world." How much different would our days be if everyday, every hour, every minute we were aware of our need for Jesus to make it to the next day, hour or minute? I believe God created breathing, the most vital function for our physical life, to be on autopilot, because, otherwise we would have to constantly be aware of our breathing, lest we die physically. Our spiritual well being isn't on autopilot though, we have to be deliberate in seeking Him. We have to be aware that our need for Jesus is like our very breathe. Without Him we face imminent death.The following is from my devotional reading today and what stirred this thought within me about our breathing."Jesus" The very sounding of My Name, in Love and tenderness, drives away all evil. It is the word before which all hosts of evil flee."Jesus". My Name is the call for a lifeline to rescue you from temptation."Jesus". The Name banishes lonliness and dispels gloom."Jesus". Summons help to conquer your faults.I will set you on high because you have known My Name. Yes! My Name-Jesus." Use it tenderly. Use it prayerfully. Use it powerfully.It is my prayer that as we go through this day we will all be more aware of our need for Jesus in everything we do, as if He were the very breathe we breath. Inhaling more of Him and exhaling our cares and troubles of the day.

O' Lord I so need You, without You Jesus my life would be no more, like my body without air, I would fail to function. I thank You Lord that You are always with me, help me to let You in deeper still, help me to release every burden into Your care, that I may focus on You.

Monday, June 15, 2009

Much has happened in my life since I last wrote something here on this blog. With all the good intentions in my heart to keep posting regular, life sometimes just gets ahold and time goes much faster than we'd like.I am learning just how fleeting life is and sometimes opportunities can pass us by never to return again. Also that just as God's word tells us, "In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world".In the early part of April I learned that my mother has terminal cancer. Since that time it seems I have experienced a gambit of emotions, from shock, despair, anger, hurt, confusion, frustration and helplessness.On one recent occasion my mom had called me sounding so distraught and helpless and in need of some help. I got into my car hearing the sound of her desperate voice still ringing in my ear as I slid a worship CD in to listen to while enroute to her home. I began to sing along and just worship the Lord when I was surrounded by an overwhelming presence. This was a presence of joy so full and so complete it is indescribable. For a second or two I felt a bit guilty for feeling so full of this joy when my mother was feeling so down and desperate. Just as quick as that thought had entered my mind I sensed the Lord telling me "no", "don't give into that thought, this is My gift to you, receive it, walk in it, even in times of trouble, it is yours always". I was overwhelmed to tears at Fathers love for me.I have always heard the teachings about joy, and joy in times of trouble. I've experienced joyful times, in times of trouble, but not really truely being full of joy in troubling times. This joy is still so full in my heart and I know the Lord is in control. Even if I am helpless, He isn't and no matter what life has in store, my joy comes from knowing Him. My joy comes from realizing where he has brought me from, my joy is knowing someday I will be with Him for all eternity. And until that time, He is with me, therefore I can rejoice, even in the face of troubling times.Blessings

Thursday, May 7, 2009

29) Then God said, "Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the surface of all the earth, and every tree which has fruit yielding seed; it shall be food for you; 30) and to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the sky and to everything that moves on the earth which has life, I have given every green plant for food"; and it was so. 31) God saw all that He had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day. Genesis 1:29-31This morning as I was praying I was thanking God for all these things we seem to have grown so accustomed to, flowers in the spring with their beautiful scents, the greeness of the grass and the trees. The variety of birds and the role they play in our intricate ecosystem. The thought of bees came to me and the role they have in our survival. I don't think we give much thought of that when we think about those bees. Most times we think about how pesky they are or how we run from them. I was thinking about how the bees pollinate our plants. How they go from one to another taking from one and giving to another, almost just by the landing on another plant, cross pollination happens.God was so perfect in His plan. We as christians so many times find ourselves confused and we say we just don't hear God speak.If we would just take the time to look around us at His creation, he even gives us examples on how to live by the life of a bee! Some may be thinking I have finally gone off the deep end here, but I don't think so, i think I'm hearing and seeing quite clearly in this.A bee spends its whole day wondering and collectiong for the providing for those in the nest, these are "the workers", or servants if you will. They go from one plant to another all day long, touching(planting seed-pollinating) one, then touching another, and in doing so providing what the plant needs to produce fruit (food) or a beautiful bloom, still referred to as fruit.In our lives in order to produce "fruit", we need each other. All alone we produce nothing!It is only by the power of our Heavenly Creator we can be the conduit to produce anything in this life. We need not only to be touched by others hearts we need to touch others with our hearts.We are in such a time in our world that our mere survival depends on God and each other.We need to be focusing more on God and His heart and being faithful to bring gladness to His heart by being more selfless, allowing those petty things in our lives be tossed aside, they have no eternal significance anyway. What are the things in our lives that do have eternal significance?Today my prayer for all of us is first, we would all grow closer to knowing the heart of our Father, and our goal would be to bring gladness into That Heart, by touching (planting seed) into the life of another.It may mean just a simple phone call to ask someone how they are doing, or doing a kind deed for a neighbor. No matter how big or small the task, it's the heart that matters.

Would you go and touch a heart today? Then allow God to bring the fruit from your effort.

And open your eyes today and you too can hear the voice of God!He is our awesome God !Thank You Abba, I am Yours!

Wednesday, March 25, 2009

I've been thinking latley about prayer.I know Gods word tells us we don't have because we don't ask and we are suppose to ask in prayer. Yet I somehowfeel as if prayer has lost it's purpose, for many it has become simply a time to make requests of God.When was the last time we simply called out to God for nothing more than to be in His presence?Have we become a body who looks at prayer like a jeannie in a bottle so to speak?

Many times we get into prayer and our time becomes a never ending list of requests and not only do we request we go further and even tell God how He should go about filling our order.We ask Him to do this and remove that even as we declare in our next breathe that we desire His will. Hmm.

I have come to believe that when we come to Father with a heart of prayer, although at times we should be specific, just the mere desire to be with Him is enough. Have you ever had one of your children be excited about coming to sit with you to share in watching a movie, then they no more get all cuddled up against you and they fall asleep?I see our Heavenly Father in much the same way. He is pleased we have the desire to just be with Him. Gods word says He already knows what is in our hearts and He already knows what it is we need. So many times going into prayer I am so thankful I can simply come to Him and I don't have to utter a single word. Romans 8:26 In the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we should but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words;and He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.Isn't that awesome! We can simply come! No more....no less.....just desire Him and come.And even if we find ourselves curled up and all cuddled against Him, basking in His warmth to the point we fall asleep, thats okay. he's Daddy God, He will simply hold us and love us and in so doing he already knows the desires of our hearts.

This alone shows His love for us........Abba, I am yours!Be blessed and in His presence.

Tuesday, March 3, 2009

It's been several weeks since I updated my blog. Not for lack of happening mind you, just for lack of time to sit down and write.But, the Lord is busy! I have been doing a study about the Jewish roots of Gods word and even visited a local synagogue. It was amazing! I was so moved by just the flow of the Holy Spirit during the Shabat celebration. Even though I am sure there was some sort of prepared message for the evening, you just couldn't sense that anything was being done my the mandates of a clock, and it was freeing! The worship time was absolutley beautiful! The Lord spoke to my heart about the freedom we have in worshipping Him. It isn't about having the right song or the right atmosphere surrounding us, it is just truely all about Him and allowing our spirits to flow freely with His in unison, allowing ourselves to become one with Him. When we allow ourselves to completley surrender during worship we bring ourselves into a place where we are better able to hear His voice, sense His presence and feel His breathe upon us, where restoration can take place. I would encourage you to worship and praise often. We don't have to wait to go to where we gather with other believers to worship the Lord. Where ever we choose to worship Him isn't what is important, but that we worship, truely worship. Not just sing a song in unison with others but listen to the words as we sing them and let those words penetrate our hearts, and then surrender and fall into the loving arms of our Savior. From it will come greater understanding into the heart of our Father, our love deepens, our hunger for more of Him will grow.

Phillipians 3:3a for we are the true circumcision; who worship in the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh,

Be blessed today as you worship the Lord in all you do, do it for the glory of God!

Sunday, January 18, 2009

Psalms 34:8 O taste and see that the Lord is good; How blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him.

This past week-end our church began having an additional gathering time on Saturday evenings. What a blessing to be having so much growth! Yet, as we grow in numbers of bodies it has also been our prayer we grow in spirit. As I prayed Saturday asking the Lord to reveal Himself anew to His children, I asked that our awarness of just how close He is would be peaked.We would feel His very breathe upon our skin. There was a stirring in my heart asking, "will you receive"?Throughout all three services this week-end this was my prayer, "teach us to receive Lord".This afternoon Ps. 34:8 came to mind. Then a correlation between what I felt in my heart and what I read in this verse.Just like having a plate of food in front of you, before it nourishes and can benefit our bodies we must receive it to our bodies. If we simply let the plate of food sit before us it does nothing, we have to get the food into our bodies.Jesus, through the Holy Spirit can be no closer, He lives within us, consistantly ministering to us.Yet, if we don't do our part and surrender to Him we will find ourselves complacent and undernourished.Our lives will always have something for us to be concerned about or to dwell over. But, it's not what the Lord would have us be doing. I know it can be so much easier said than done to just give it to the Lord, yet, I am also seeing the more we surrender the more teachable we become, the more we open up our hearts, the more we receive. The more we receive, the more we grow.

Give us teachable hearts Lord, help us to surrender self to You and all our plans, to lay them down before You and receive all You have for us. Place Your precious peace upon us as we lay every care, every worry down at the foot of the Cross, and help us grow deeper in our understanding, and our love for You and those in our lives.We praise You and thank You........In Your precious name Jesus, Amen

Friday, January 9, 2009

This morning my day started with a hunt, you know the kind I'm referring to, where you know you just saw it, and you search and search and you find many other things you previously went on a hunt for but the one thing your searching for right now is no where to be found. Then you become frustrated and you can think of nothing else, finding this thing becomes almost an obsession. Then as you are on the search you find yourself on the onset of a great throw away session. Are ya with me there ladies? Or am I the only one who does this?Today as I was on my tirad a thought came to me about "clutter", it's everywhere!I've often wondered when visiting others what they do with their clutter. You know the kind I'm talking about, all that stuff that comes in the mail that you might (not) use some day, where in the world does everyone hide this stuff?Anyway I realized, while on my hunt, that this clutter is everywhere, not only with mail, but we have newspapers, periodicals, our e-mail boxes, and also inside of us, in our minds and our hearts. I couldn't help but wonder if the clutter inside of us works the same way as the clutter on the outside, and couldn't imagine why it wouldn't. I have found when we have all this clutter in our lives it keeps us from finding the very thing we need. Have you ever found yourself checking e-mail and finding so many that you just delete them all, then someone asks you if you received the e-mail with an invite or an announcement of an important event?When situations and circumstances come our way we tend to fret about them almost obsessivley, cluttering of the mind. When we allow our schedules to become overloaded, cluttering of our time. When we worry about things we have no control over, cluttering of our hearts. I am seeing a corralation here between our physical clutter and our inner clutter, aren't you? All this clutter keeps us away from finding the very thing(s) that is most important.Hosea 10:12 Sow with a view to righteousness, Reap in accordance with kindness; Break up your fallow ground, For it is time to seek the Lord Until He comes to rain righteuosness on you."For it is time to seek the Lord".How much of our clutter keeps us away from seeking the Lord? How much of our clutter keeps us away from hearing His voice?Sometimes it's very difficult in our own strength to let go of something, or a situation that just breaks our hearts. Our thoughts tend to take over or clutter up our time, our minds and hearts. We want to let go but find we are just too weak. Recently I found myself in this very place, where my thoughts seem to be taken over by circumstances heart breaking and out of control, and I found myself constantly thinking about it. In one instant I simply said "Lord, I don't want to be thinking about this all the time" , and a verse came to mind.Matthew 6:33 But, seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.God cares and He knows our hearts. When we bring all things unto Him first, we can then let it go. You might be thinking thats easier said than done, and I agree. But, after the verse came to me, later that day even when I sat down it dawned on me that I hadn't really thought about that issue much at all since I called out to God. He truely had come and helped me unclutter my thoughts. My heart felt lighter upon realizing this and excited for the future. You see this isn't the only time I've allowed myself to be taken over by a situation, actually I had begun to think this was just how I handled things. But, now the Lord has shown me He will help me keep my heart and mind on Him if I simply bring it all to Him, first.How many times have I thought it would be so awesome to have help uncluttering my life, and all along the only help I needed was just waiting for me to ask.I don't know if this message will help do anything about that paper clutter from our mail, or the clutter in our e-mail boxes but I do pray it encourage you to let it draw you to the very one who can help you unclutter your heart and mind and bring you to a place of freedom and peace. I pray it will bring encouragment to take a good look around our lives and get rid of the stuff and the doing that just isn't going to bring an eternal benefit. "For it is time to seek the Lord".

Saturday, January 3, 2009

Proverbs 1:8 Hear my son, your father's instructionAnd do not forsake your mother's teaching;I remember that feeling inside when I would overhear plans being made when I was a small child. That sense of wanting to know all the details, the times, and the day in which these plans were to take place. Sometimes my mother would be accommodating and would fill us in without hesitation, and other times be more lock lipped than Fort Knox. (this was a saying my brothers used all the time when sometihng was not openly available to them, funny how those things stick with you). Mom always had her reasons for either revealing or keeping quiet about what was to take place. I recall for the most part being excited and just accepting that plans were being made for me. Why are we not as accepting of the plans the Lord prepares for us? Maybe "accepting" isn't the right word here, possibly it's more a need for patience and trust on our part.In Isaiah 40:31 it says, " But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength."When we are children we have such a sense of acceptance and trust for those who care for us, who have shown us love and nuturing. Why then as we grow older and supposedly more mature in the Lord we seem to trust Him less than we trusted our own caregivers as a child? In Matthew 18:3, Jesus says, "Truely I say to you, unless you are converted and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven. "Like children"! What does it mean to "become like children"? My granddaughter loves to sit on my lap and have me teach her how to count, or do puzzles, or read to her. Her curiousity about life and all thats in it overwhelms me at times. I think this is a perfect example of what our Father desires from us, to come, sit on His lap and let Him teach us.How do we want our children to accept our teaching? With resistance? Rebellion? Or acceptance and trust?I believe the Lord is calling His children to a deeper understanding and also a deeper commitment to His plans for our lives. The only way this will happen is by trusting Him, knowing He loves us, He helps us, He fights the battles for us. But, we must trust, we must be teachable and accepting of His plans. Just as when we were little and we trusted the plans being made for us by our parents we are to trust and believe our Fathers love for us would never lead us astray, He loves and cares for us and longs for us to come to Him just like His word says, "as children", trusting Him and having a teachable spirit about us.Daddy, I come before You today with my arms held high, reaching for You to lift me up to sit upon Your lap and listen and to be taught. Open my ears and eyes, as well as my heart, mind and spirit to receive and trust in all You have for me. Thank You, In the name and power of Jesus Christ, Amen.Now, go on, go crawl up on your Daddy's lap and have a nice long talk!Be blessed!

About Me

I am just an ordinary girl going through life just like everyone else. Married to the love of my life, next to Jesus, that is, with five great kids, most of which are adults now.
I say I am just an ordinary girl and I am, but what makes my life spectacular is that I am not in it alone. I have Jesus in me and by me all the way, even when it doesn't feel like it. My hearts desire is to be as much like my Jesus while on this earth as humanly possible. To serve Him by serving others at every opportunity made available to me and to help others come to this same great love. To give until it hurts and then give some more. All for the love of the One who absorbed my sin that I may live. I am a thankful daughter of the King!